Method of packing and/or harvesting fruit or vegetable articles from bush type plants



June 1960 R. M. MAGNUSON ,940,

METHOD OF PACKING AND/OR HARVESTING FRUIT OR VEGETABLE ARTICLES FROM BUSH TYPE PLANTS Filed Jan. 16, 1956 /G I f El HAP l/E'S T/NG TRANSPOR TING FROM F /E LD HOL DING l/V POD SUESEQUEN T PROCESSING INVENTOR. R0) M. MAGNUSOV A 7' TORNEV United States Patent METHOD OF PACKING AND/R HARVESTING 'FRUIT OR VEGETABLE ARTICLES FROM BUSH TYPE PLANTS Key M. Magnuson, Los Gatos, Calif., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to Santa (,lara Frosted Foods (30., Santa Clara, Calif; one-quarter to Genevieve I. Magnuson and one-quarter to Genevieve I. Magnuson, Robert Magnuson, and Lois J. Fox, as trustees Filed Jan. 16, 1956, Ser. No. 559,367

8 Claims. (Cl. 171-1) The present invention relates to a process of packing and/or harvesting fruit and vegetable articles from bush type plants such as Fordhook Lima beans, for example, and is concerned more particularly with a process which -willprovide a more desirable product for the packing operation, and which will facilitate and improve the entire packing operation in connection with podded products such as Fordhook Lima beans, for example.

It is a general object of the invention to provide a method for harvesting crops of the above character with a gentle lifting and grasping action, which will not subject the crop articles to harmful beating action.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method incorporating an improved gentle lifting action for lifting the plants from the ground.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method whereby the vegetables are placed in .an inverted position after being lifted from the ground,

andin which the crop articles are removed progressively from the lowermost point of the plant upwardly.

Another general object of the invention is to provide 1an,improved method of packing a container with crop articles, such as the products from pods, so that .the products will be in relatively unharmed and clean con- ;dition,; and Sothat-thcy can be held in the plant while --maintaining their freshness and flavor characteristics until the time ofpacking. {The above and other objects of the invention are attained in connection with a preferred method of carrying out the invention, as disclosed in the accompanying description and-in the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure l is a schernatic view of apparatus designed to-,carry out the method of the instant invention.

' ,Figurc ,2 is a schematic plan view of the apparatus.

Figure 3 is a schematic plan view of the pneumatic wheels foretfe'cting the grasping, lifting and inverting .operationon the plants.

,Eigure 4 is a how diagram indicating generally a sequence of operations in accordance with the invention.

The present invention is described in connection with the harvesting and packing of Fordhook Lima beans as it would be carried out in a quick-freeze plant, the entire packing operation being equally applicable to other types of podded products, and the harvesting portion of the description being equally applicable to other bushtype plants that bear a plurality of crop articles thereon, such as tomatoes.

In accordance with the instant invention, the row of bush type plants 10 in the ground 11 are subjected to a root loosening and/or severing action by means of a blade 12 carried on a machine by an arm 13 of suitable construction, the character of the machine being unnecessary to an understanding of the instant invention. The loosening and severing knife 12 is positioned immediately below a pair of yieldable elements such as pneumatic grasping, lifting and inverting wheels 14, which are of a suitable type such as a pneumatic inner tube of the type used in truck tires. The tubes 14 may be carried by a plurality of flexible spokes 16 from a hub 17; The hubs 17 rotate about axes inclined to each other so that the normal path of rotation of the wheels would be represented by the front diverging portions 18a thereof, but by virtue of their lateral juxtaposition, these Wheels 14 remain in contact through substantially degrees of their travel to a point immediately above the ground. The wheels 14 are preferably operated so that their plant grasping portions are traveling at a peripheral speed substantially equal to the ground speed of the machine which carries them,'but preferably out of contact with the ground.

These Wheels 14 perform a gentle yet efiective grasping action over an area of the plant and preferably engage 'as they are being lifted by the wheels 14. Thereafter the rubber belts 21 are brought into close parallel relation by a series of spring-urged rollers 24. The belts- 21 extend a considerable distance forward of the direc tion of travel of the wheels 14 as seen clearly in Figure 1. These gripping belts grip the plantwhile grasped by g the wheels 14 spaced above the crop bearing portion of the plant, and asshown and disclosed herein, this gripping action takes place substantially at the root-stem juncture of the.plant. These belts 21 travelin the same direction as the travel of the equipment, and therefore have a ground speed substantially equal to the tangential speed of the'vwl 'eels 14 at the top, ,and approximately twice the ground speed of the equipment. i

After the plants"have been gripped by the gripping belts 21 and are firmly engaged, therewith, they arecarried past a pair of taperedbeating reels 26, havingtheir axes inclined to each otherbothinthe horizontal .and the vertical-to place the outer end of the reelspokesor fingersat the upperportion of the travel substantially horizontal and to provide an upwardly-extending beating --hopper- 27 to' a suitable point of discharge indicatedby ahopper 28.

it is to be noted that the tubes or wheels 14 are deformable to correspond to the shape of the plant being grasped, and are of a yieldable material so as to not injure the crop article such as the pods on a lima bean plant during the uprooting, lifting and inverting action. The crop articles therefore are removed and delivered in substantially undamaged condition to the crop receiving hopper 27.

This mixture of crop and leaves are subjected to a subsequent separating action such as an air blast which will lift the lighter leaves from the crop articles and leave the crop articles as the end result of the harvesting operationl Where the crop articles being harvested and packed are a podded product such as Fordhook Lima beans, the crop articles resulting from the above operations are the pods containing the beans or other vegetables, so that these beans are still protected by the pod itself, and are in a clean, fresh condition.

Subsequently, the podded products are transported to the packing plant for subsequent processing, and while remaining in the 'pod may be held fora. substantial 'perio'd'of time until required for the packing operation. This ability to hold the product in the pod, removes vthe requirement for extremely rapid processing such as is required after. podding of the product. The product in V: the pod will retain its freshness over a substantial period until'a convenient time for processing.

When the packing operation requires additional ar- ,ticles for packing, the pods arebroken, open in' any suitable manner and this poddingjoperationmay be per- 7 formed by any conventionaltpodding step. Thereafter the articles fresh from the pods are processed as required, for iexarnplepblanched 'a'nd quick frozen and packed for themarketa i V j WhileIhave shovvnand described apreferred method :of carrying, out the invention, it will be apparent that this method is' capable of variation in its various steps and that therefore the scope of the invention should be limitedl'only by the scope of theclaims appended hereto.

Iclaim:

1; A process of harvesting fruit and vegetable crops which grow on a bush-type plant;'which comprises loos- .jening'the ,plant ,roots,gently grasping the plant over an Y area thereof embracing a crop portion'of the plant, lift- "ingj'an'd inverting the plant w ne'sdgraspea gripping the'pla'nt; afterl inversion, thereof I at a location, above the cropportiori of the plant,f releasing the, grasping action,

, :and removing the crop articles from the stem -p'or tion or lth'epl'ant While in inverted PdSifiOBL-L i I i V ;If2.' Alpr'ocess of harvesting fruit land: vegetable combingor str ipping the crop articles and leaves from 'the'steme while beingZcarr'iedp along in inverted position,

,andthereafter diseharging' the stripped root and stem :SWfilll'eL- f 3, A. processi'of fruitgandrve getable 'crops V (which grcwenga bush type plant, which comprisespro- =;gr es'sively loosening .the' plant roots along a row of the 7 plants, progressivelygrasping; the plantso f the row over :a'surfaceof each. plant in'cluding a crop area of the plant- 'at, a'speedsubstantiallyequal to the speedwhile loosening the plant roots, progressively lifting and invert- ,ing; the. plants while so grasped,.gripping the plant and while so grasped, afterinversion thereof above the crop bearing t portion v\ l'lereof, releasing the grasping action,

carrying the plants along in inverted position while so gripped at a speed substantially greater than the speed while loosening the plant roots, combing or stripping the crop articles and leaves from the'stems while being carried along in inverted position, and thereafter discharging the strippedroot and stem structure.

-, 4; A process of'harvesting fruit] and vegetable crops as recited in. claim 1, in which the combing and stripping action is carried out from the tips ofltheplan 10 progressivelyttoward the stem-root juncture. a

5; A process of harvesting lima beans in their pods from a bush-typeplant, which comprises grasping an area of the plant including a crop bearing portion there- 'of, lifting the plant and carrying it upwardly to anfinverted position, gripping the plant while so grasped at a plant portion above 'thetcrop bearing portion-thereof, and j combing the pods from the stems of the plants while in inverted position' T jj 6. A process of harvmting fruit and vegetable crops which grow on a bush typeplant, which comprises'lifting the plant from'the ground, invertingithe plant'to-be positioned, root uppermost, grasping the plant while inverted at the root portion thereof to place the stemsand crop thereon in depending position, combing or stripping the crop and leaves from the stems while inverted,

and thereafter separating the crop from the leaves;

7. A-method of packing articles such as lima' beans in containers, which comprises lifting the plantifromthe ground in the field, inverting the plant to place the stems and vcrop thereon in depending position, gripping the plant at a location above'the crop bearing portion thereof, combing'or strippingtthe podsandleaves'fromthe stem While inverted, separatingthe crop from the leaves, holding the crop in the pads for a desired period, there- -after podding the crop, and upackingthe crop in containers. V V 5 8. A method of packing articles such as lim'a beans in containers,'which comprises lifting-the plant from the ground in the field by grasping the plant over an area 40 and in a location including "a crop bearing-portion'thereof, to yplace {the stems. and crop thereon ,in'dependin'g position, gripping the plant at 'a' location above thecrop bearing portion thereof, combing or stripping the pods 'andleaves from the-stem whilejinverted separating the -crop from the leaves, transporting the crop fronrth'e field 'to the plant, holdingth e crop inj the'pods' for a desired period, thereafter poddingthe crop; andpacking -thecropi'n containers.

I R fe n e ei' h e e f'fli -pat nt Q 1 UNI'YIYEDZST'A'IYES-PA'IVENTS 1,175,419 j Fettig I -'Ma'r. 1,1, 1916 1,251,425 Rogers'et a1 Decf 25, 1 917 1,559,501 Bur-dick oc."27,192 s 1,727,020 Urschel- -1 Sept. 3,,11929 2 ,679,716 7 Dunkle June 1,1954 2,699,030

Adamson Jan. 11, 1955 

